Kazakhstan - Central Asia - page 91

from Aktau in a 4WD for up to four passen-
gers generally cost 40,000T to 60,000T; itin-
eraries of several days, camping most nights,
are also available.

three-hour taxi round-trip from Shetpe
bazaar should cost 4000T, including a
couple of other interesting spots nearby.
Shortly before you reach the track turn-off
to Sherkala, a 'Kyzylkala Kalashygy' sign
indicates a 1km track to the remnants of
the small Silk Road settlement of Kyzyl-
kala , beside a small green oasis with trees.
Over to your right as you approach Sherka-
la from the road is the abandoned, little-
known Temir¨ Abdal¨ Ata¨ cave-shrine ,
with the carved stones of an abandoned
necropolis scattered in front of it.
In a 4WD it's possible to combine this
area with Shakpak-Ata and Sultan Epe in
one longish day trip.

Shakpak - Ata & Sultan Epe
Shakpak-Ata is perhaps the most intriguing
of all Mangistau's underground mosques - a
cross-shaped affair with three entrances and
four chambers, cut into a cliff close to the
Caspian coast. It's 133km north of Aktau and
37km northwest of the village of Taushik -
the final 11km, north from the Taushik-Fort
Shevchenko road, is down a stony, bumpy
track. Shakpak-Ata probably dates back to
the 10th century, and its walls are adorned
with deeply incised Arabic inscriptions,
sculpted columns, weirdly weathered niches
and drawings of horses and hands. The cliff
is peppered with burial niches, and there's a
necropolis of similar age below it, with more
than 2000 tombs.
The signposted turning to Sultan¨Epe ,
another underground mosque and necrop-
olis pairing, is 7km past the Shakpak-Ata
turning on the Taushik-Fort Shevchenko
road. You first reach the Kenty-Baba¨¨
Necropolis , 7km from the road, with two
towerlike mausoleums and other carved
monuments. Sultan Epe is about 1km be-
yond, on the edge of a deep canyon. The
necropolis - tomb of holy man Sultan Epe,
considered the protector of sailors - is rich
in carvings, while the underground mosque,
of similar age to Shakpak-Ata, comprises
several small rooms and low passages.

NORTHERN
KAZAKHSTAN
This is the most Russified part of Ka-
zakhstan but it's also the location of the
eye-catching new capital, Astana, chief
showpiece of President Nazarbaev's vision
of the prosperous, cosmopolitan Kaza-
khstan of the future.
The northern steppes also harbour sur-
prising areas of natural beauty: the fla-
mingo-filled lakes of Korgalzhyn; the hills,
forests and lakes around Burabay; and the
picturesque Kyzylarai mountains southeast
of Karaganda.
Until the 19th century, this region was
largely untouched except by Kazakh no-
mads and their herds. As Russia's hand
stretched southwards, Russian and Ukrain-
ian settlers came to farm the steppe - a mil-
lion or more by 1900. In Soviet times, the
Kazakhs were forced into collective farms,
and industrial cities such as Karaganda and
Kostanay sprouted to exploit coal, iron ore
and other minerals, while over a million po-
litical prisoners suffered in the huge KarLag
labour camp complex around Karaganda. In
the 1950s vast areas of steppe were turned
over to wheat in Nikita Khrushchev's Virgin
Lands scheme, bringing in yet more settlers.
In the 1950s most of the labour camps
were closed, but a lot of survivors stayed.
After the Soviet collapse many ethnic Ger-
mans, Russian and Ukrainians emigrated,
but Kazakhs still number less than one-third
in several areas.
The climate is sharply continental and
the most pleasant months to travel are May
to September. In January and February

Around Shetpe
The small town of Shetpe is 150km north-
east of Aktau by paved road (two and a half
hours by minibus from Aktau bus station).
About 35km towards Shetpe from the cross-
roads where the Shetpe and Taushik roads
divide, a signposted 4km side-road leads
up to Otpan¨Tau , Mangistau's highest hill
(532m), where a modern 'historical-cultural
complex', affording great panoramas, in-
cludes three gold-domed towers, a she-wolf
monument (by legend the first Kazakhs
were born from a wolf), and a symbolic
torch commemorating the legendary use of
this site for warning beacons.
The awesome 332m-high, 1km-long
chalk outcrop Sherkala (Lion Rock) rises
mysteriously from the desert about 22km
northwest from Shetpe by paved road. A